When secrets are spilled: They keep officials honest - and alter history

Dallas Morning News | Editorials:

“when it comes to leaks, there is just so much hypocrisy. Isn't it true that most of us condemn or laud a leaker based on whether the information leaked harms or helps a favored cause? And doesn't that generally determine whether we think any rules or laws were violated in the leaking? Such selectivity doesn't carry much ethical weight.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

Sure it does. Selectivity is at the heart of ethics. The DMN's position on government leaks is like saying that there is no ethical difference between using a gun in self defense versus using a gun to rob a bank. In some cases, the ends do justify the means.

In the cases of government leaking, there's a world of ethical difference between a government bureaucrat leaking facts about widespread abuse of power that strikes at the heart of our Constitutional rights, versus the President himself leaking information about a critic of the Administration in a smear campaign.

The difference is the difference between right and wrong. Conservatives used to be able to distinguish the two, at least until their guys became the ones caught doing wrong. Now, they want us to believe everything is equal. Hypocrisy at its worst. And the DMN misses a chance to point it out.